Tom Flint: A superb way to try city’s top venues

Tom Flint

Published:10:52Friday 29 September 2017

Brighton’s most accessible and exciting restaurant-based food festival returns for its second year in the first two weeks of October.

The OctoberBest festival brings 20 top restaurants together in a celebration of food and drink like no other. You will be able to eat in some of the city’s best restaurants for £20. This is something not to be sniffed at, and is a superb way to experience some of the best restaurants in Brighton without breaking the bank – not that many of them would anyway.

Brighton's Best Cookbook

The festival is the brain child of the team behind the Brighton’s Best Restaurant awards, announced earlier this year. In addition to the awards, they also released a Brighton’s Best cookbook which is available from the participating restaurants and local book stores. These guys are passionate about Brighton’s food and drink scene, and they want you to be able to share in this passion by joining them for OctoberBest.

Last year was the first run of the festival, and I thought it was a great success. This year promises to be bigger and better, with restaurants competing for the prize of “best OctoberBest meal” in next year’s awards. This award was created following the success of the Chilli Pickle’s pork knuckle vindaloo dish, which was so good that Dan Kenny of The Set started a successful campaign to keep it on the menu. Chefs are a competitive bunch, and with an award on the line you can be sure that the standard of dishes on offer this year will be memorable.

For many people dining out is an expensive luxury that is limited to a few times a year. This festival brings the food to the people, allowing diners the opportunity to eat at venues such as The Ginger Pig, Plateau, Fourth and Church and The Salt Room for just £20. The range of deals on offer and the variety of restaurants means that there is a huge amount of choice when it comes to what to eat. There is everything from pizza and pasta to fine dining and curry. OctoberBest really shows off the quality of restaurant that Brighton and Hove now boasts.

Last year I managed to visit about five of the restaurants during the celebration, and I know there were others that did more than half. This is a great opportunity to get together with friends and eat at that restaurant you always wanted to try. I am hoping to try a few more this year, and with new additions on the list such as Cin Cin and The Urchin appearing alongside 64 Degrees, The Set, Semolina and Bincho Yakitori I am really spoilt for choice.

The festival runs from October 1 to 15, and there will be some one-off events to supplement the already excellent offers.